R.I.P. Martha

On September 1, 1914, the very last known Passenger Pigeon, Martha, died in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo, and a species that once covered the continent was gone forever. Once considered the most common bird in the United States, at a population in the billions, the Passenger Pigeon became a regular target for hunting throughout the 1800s, and, due to the volume of available birds, was one of the main meat sources for landowners seeking to feed slaves.

However, since the bird only laid one egg at a time, the numbers decreased rapidly, and in 1900 the last recorded wild Passenger Pigeon was shot dead by a boy in Ohio. In 1914, Martha was the last of her kind, and, after her death, she was stuffed and mounted (see above), and can still be seen to this day in the Smithsonian collection: The last member of a species cut down by poor management and intolerable economic requirements spurred in part by the abhorrent practice of slavery.

Since her death, Martha has become possibly the most famous pigeon ever to have lived, and she has inspired at least two songs, one by bluegrass songwriter John Herald (“Martha”) and another rock band Paint By Numbers (“Sweet Sweet Martha”), and has become something of a poster-bird for the environmental movement that was no more than a whisper and a rumour during her lifetime. By identifying this one unfortunate animal, the danger of extinction is highlighted.

For, of course, if pigeons can go extinct, who or what on earth is safe?
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